Dead Lifts Update – Nearly Twice My Weight!

Posted on by Edmund

I won’t be going anywhere for the time being until my trip to the US in February next year. I’ll be clocking in gym time again on at least two times a week – and beyond that, do my own workouts at home with body weight training.

My motivation has been renewed ever since friends commented I look buffer now. YES, A BIG WIN considering that I failed my attempt in 2012. I was putting on muscles but vomited it all out and felt nausea for a very loooong time, thus shrunk back. Plus for most of my life I have to bare with people around me saying how thin and scrawny I was, and “ah boy boy, you need to eat more rice”.

I weighed 59-60 kilos average then; now I am consistently 65 kilos for the last three months.

IMG_8960One of my recent photos. Yes, I’m making gains!

Yesterday I visited the QLS Fitness gym and my latest PR for dead lifts is 120 kilos or 264 lbs. A 22 lbs increase since my best record of 242 lbs in 2013!

I was gunning for 130 kilos which would have been double my body weight but alas, I couldn’t even lift the bar off the ground. Not even 125 kilos. So 120 kilos it was. I shall try again in a couple of months.

While I am happy with my progress, the increase in body weight came at a price: I also put on some unwanted love handles on the sides. And I’ll be hitting 30 soon, which means I need to watch what I eat now more than before.

Now that I’ve achieved my long desired ideal body weight, it’s time to go for that ideal body: get rid of the flabs and replace with six packs!

The Long Awaited Upgrade. BMW?

Posted on by Edmund

Yesterday I visited a few auto dealerships in search for a second hand BMW 3 Series, and at the end of my search I found myself browsing the new cars and premium selections at Auto Bavaria, Glenmarie.

I’ve been driving the Toyota Vios for 6 years, and it’s high time to upgrade. When I get a new car, I will be passing on my current car to my mother for her errands and church activities in Johor.

Originally, I planned to purchase a second hand Beemer as for one, I am not a ‘car person’ and I know cars are liabilities; I would rather spend that difference on acquiring another asset, if not at least put a down payment for it.

After a day spent looking at cars, talking to the sales people and getting opinions from my friends who are knowledgeable with cars (and own luxury cars), I realize it’s probably better to buy a new one after all, or at least get a pre-owned car.

The frugal saver in me is screaming “this is out of my comfort zone!” and even though I can afford it, I cannot help but think if I should have bought a second Filipino property.

But what about the promise I made to myself when I was 23 years old? That I would have easily gotten a BMW while still in my 20’s. Today I have about a year left before I hit 30. Was I all talk?

In as much as I’d live frugally and do business guerrilla style, I can see that my current methods can only get me so far; if I want to graduate to the next level in business and make more profits than I am right now (I’m talking about DOUBLING and TRIPLING even) I will have to eventually forego my guerrilla methods and adapt and adopt a different style of playing the money game.

That means different thinking, and being less of a cheapskate.

bmw-320i

Visiting Auto Bavaria and talking to my friends who own luxury cars opened my eyes to some of the things I didn’t realize or thought otherwise – that there are still crazy heck LOTS of rich people among us here. I would think with the GST implementation, weakening Ringgits, and Malaysia’s economy performing worse than ever, most people would have been forced to downgrade their lifestyle. I can see the truly rich are on top of things again.

And I definitely want to ascend to the levels of the mega rich. This shall be the start.

So my game plan right now: 30% to 40% down payment for a BMW 3 Series (I’m eyeing the 320i or 316i), monthly repayment financed by my monthly memberships. Will work to grow business BIGGER and acquire properties so by Year 3 to Year 4, liabilities like the BMW can be financed by assets instead.

I am going to get down  to it in the coming week, after I at least check out what Audi and Mercedes has to offer for completion sake (might change my mind).

Bali Revisited

Posted on by Edmund

The last time I came to Bali was seven years ago. I came here again mainly for the Airsoft tournament; I didn’t think of visiting anywhere else as I thought I would be in the Sports Center most if not all the time.

But due to long waiting time and late start each day, Soviani Chandra insisted we visit a few other places.

We covered the Safari & Marine Park, Agrowisata Village, Monkey Forest, and one of the many temples when we were not at the Hall.

(If you’re wondering why I’m wearing camouflage in all the photos, I didn’t pack in enough clothes and I didn’t think I would be visiting these tourist places.)

Kejuaraan Nasional Airsoft

Posted on by Edmund

This was the most anticipated Airsoft event of the year for me. I flew to Bali, Indonesia to join the 3 day event, in what would become Indonesia’s first ever national Airsoft tournament.

Although I came alone from Malaysia, I would join up with two other members to form our 3-men team. Malaysia, Netherland, England… truly a multinational team indeed!

The format of the tournament is a 3 vs 3 match. We had advanced to the final day before we got eliminated, but for a team formed on the spot, using borrowed guns (in not so good condition I must add) and that half of the 23 teams present at the tournament are Special Forces, Regular Army and Police… I’d say we did a good job overall.

The organizing of the event still has a lot of room for improvement; each day would begin rather late in the afternoon, and with no strict schedule to adhere to we would wait for hours before our next match – and each match would end in minutes.

Even though we won no medal, I still took back a collection of team patches from the event, because I always make it a custom to exchange team patches with every team I come across.

My collection swelled yet again… and it is still my dream to get in US and Europe team patches into my collection!

More on that next year…